Have a GE Profile Spacesaver microwave, model JVM1870SF02. Yesterday, the top vent started opening and closing by itself and making a clicking noise. The oven wasn't working at the time. And it stopped heating when I did try to use it.

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You can fix it without the aid of a repairman. Simply unplug the microwave and remove the outer casing. There should be a few screws around the bottom edge and back panel. Once you have the unit open, look for where the power cord comes in. There should be a circuit board with a fuse mounted to it. This is your input line filter. The fuse should be a 20 amp appliance fuse that you can pick up at any hardware store (Lowe's and Home Depot both carry them). DO NOT op test with the outer casing removed. Potentials of about 14,000 volts are present in the high voltage network of a microwave oven. Close the unit up BEFORE you power it back up. Let me know if this helps.

- bad door switches or door switch mounts- loose connection at the magnetron- problem or loose connection on the control unit circuit board- bad magnetron or other high voltage part

If you or a friend decide to look into it, we have critical safety information, info on door switch diagnosis and replacement, and
disassembly information at our site, and our link is at our listing here on FixYa: http://tinyurl.com/yzjozk

You can usually find helpful exploded view diagrams and order parts by entering your full model number here: http://tinyurl.com/gv383

There should be a very helpful "mini-manual" hidden inside the unit behind the control panel.

Please write back with more details if you need further help.

We're happy to help and we appreciate your thoughtful rating of our answer.

GE Microwave ovens, and Microwave Ovens produced by GE but released under different brand names, have had several power problems for the past 20 years. Because it is so easy to sell parts and charge outrageous rates for repair GE never corrected the problems. They just continued it in the next model. They found that you would most likely purchase a new unit rather than paying $75. for a service charge, and $150. for labor plus parts (if out of warranty period).
Most failures were cold solder connections on the power relay board. These would come completely dis-connected after arcing and burning away the solder. Could be 1 month, could be years, but they knew it would happen. This power relay board feeds 120volts to the LV (low voltage) side of the HV (high voltage) Transformer. No High Voltage,,No cook. Everything seems to run normal, but if you listen carefully you will not hear the low tone from the HV Transformer. Over my thirty years in the business I have re-soldered rather than replace so many I couldn't count.
Next to that, a defective Magnetron.

This is usually caused by a "Blown" magnetron, and or the High power Diode And YES, putting metal inside the MW, will cause it to fail.
You need to get a "Quote" for any repair, as the repair may cost nearly as much, as new unit. Also the new unit will have a warranty.

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Probably is the fan tapping something. Power it down/DISCONNECT power. pull unit and if there is a cover, remove it. look for the convection fan and see if it free-spins. should find spot where it is hitting and could be adjusted.

see the next steps for fix it, use the common sense.God bless youFirst, with microwave still installed, gain access to the control
board and check for voltage from the fan relay. If you are not getting
voltage from the fan relay on the control board, and your display says
fan is on, then you need a new control board.If voltage is
present and the wiring that you can see looks good, then you will have
to take the unit down and test for voltage at the fan itself. If the
voltage is present there, then test the motor itself and/or start
capacitor for the motor. The fan motor assembly will slide out of the
top of the unit after you take it down and unscrew 2 screws. Below, in
the list of component testing, you will see how to test the motor and
start

This is most likely a defective magnetron, especially with the burning smell. There are two other parts that can be a problem, the high voltage capacitor and diode, all three work together to heat food. If the magnetron is the culprit, probably cheaper to replace the microwave oven.

I had GE look at the problem today (my microwave is less than a year old and under warranty). He replaced the cam louver and that seems to have fixed the problem. This is a small motor accessible by removing three screws and the active vent door. The whole visit was less than 15 minutes.<!-- from fixya rte -->